April 23, 2011
Game 6 Preparations

And no, we are not talking about an order of Depends adult size diapers for the lucky 20 who get to defend the honour of this frantic city heading into the next possible elimination game against the hated Hawks.

After two knock-out losses, clearly something is broken, so here are some suggested fixes:

  • Start Cory Schneider in net.  And while it will not happen (Coach Vigneault tabbed Luongo as his starter within minutes of Thursday’s disaster), it seems like a win-win for all concerned.  His teammates have clearly thrown Roberto under the bus.  Starting Schneider would be a signal from the coaching staff that such mutiny will not be tolerated any longer.  If he manages a win, all is forgiven and we can move onto the next round with Lou rightfully retaining his spot at the front of the bus.  If he loses, the franchise icon (and his beleaguered mates) get one last shot at redemption at home in Game 7 with Alain Vigneault having seemingly exhausted all of his options. 
  • Send Raffi Torres to the press box.  Remember the first two games of this series when everyone was marveling at the Canucks’ depth and the Hawks lack of it?  When Torres was serving the final two games of his suspension?  Yes, we won those games.  Torres is the proverbial red cape to the Hawks’ rampaging bulls.  Every time he does something, it gives them just a little bit extra.  We don’t need that. 
  • Get Cody Hodgson more ice.  The sheltered one, likely tiring of the kid glove treatment he’s been getting from team brass all season, was the Canucks’ most dangerous forward last game with limited minutes.  And while that might not say much, it’s clear that he’s not been here long enough to be conditioned to pant pooping every time the going gets tough.
  • Ryan Kesler and Alex Burrows are missing in action so why not put them back together.  At worst, only one line is neutralized this way.  At best, they can yap at each other to the point of turning their collective games around.
  • There is precious little good playoff history for us to celebrate in Vancouver.  But some of the best of it happened against these damn Hawks.  Forget about analyzing video from the two nightmarish losses.  How about cuing up footage from the famed ‘82 series against Chicago?  Ron Delorme’s pummeling of Grant Mulvey.  Roger Neilson and the white towels.  Jim Nill’s overtime winner.  Heroic net-minding from King Richard.  That team couldn’t carry this team’s collective jock-straps talent wise, but they cared about each other.

And while we don’t expect many (if any) of these things to happen, the simple fact that they don’t might tell you all you need to know about those running the show.

Enjoy Game 6 where we can only hope that this Easter Sunday won”t be remembered as another massacre at the madhouse on Madison.

9:54am
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(Notes: 2)
  
Filed under: Vancouver Canucks Chicago Black Hawks Cory Schneider Roberto Luongo Alain Vigneault Raffi Torres Cody Hodgson Ryan Kesler Alex Burrows Roger Neilson Ron Delorme Jim Nill Richard Brodeur 
June 30, 2010
So You Think You’re Tough - Round Two CLOSED

As you would expect, things got a little heated in Round 2 of our little game determining the “toughest” Canuck ever.  We will commence with Round 3 on Monday.  And promise to pick-up the pace.  This will end long before training camp.

Here’s a quick recap of Round 2 results:

1. In our most controversial match-up, Trevor Linden barely out pointed Ron Delorme.  You, valued reader, turned out in droves to vote on this one, which featured many lead changes and was basically a split vote from start to finish, with Trevor edging out Chief by the narrowest of margins.  So clearly the broad definition of toughness wins out.  For now.

2. In another ridiculously close encounter, Stan Smyl bested linemate Curt Fraser by a single vote.  Clearly, Smyl’s enduring legendary status in this town provided him with the momentum to get past the more dangerous Fraser.

3. In a battle of top defensemen, Harold Snepsts, easily out voted Ed Jovanovski.  We applaude your discerning taste.

4. And in a match that should have never happened, Gino Odjick pretended Mattias Ohlund was the St. Louis Blues, with a most logical conclusion. 

Thanks for playing.  Round 2 featured a record number of votes; we can only hope you’ll hang around for Round 3 (starting Monday).

8:32am
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Filed under: vancouver canucks trevor linden ron delorme stan smyl curt fraser harold snepsts Ed Jovanovski gino odjick Mattias Ohlund 
June 15, 2010
Boon or boondoggle, part 3

As a little interlude between rounds of our toughest Canuck marathon (thanks, by the way, for all your votes today), we continue with our draft day retrospective…

Boondoggle - The Canucks have often been accused in recent years of avoiding the WHL come draft time.  And there may be some truth to that.  We’re still investigating.  But if it is true, after the 2000 pick of centre Nathan Smith from Swift Current, you can’t blame them for being a little gun shy.  In their draft history, the Canucks have been alternately obsessed with trying to find the elusive blue chip defenseman or the even more elusive number one centre.  Smith was yet another attempt at the latter.  To date, he has played 26 NHL games and has yet to register a point.  Wow.  Who could they have had instead?  Well, one pick later centre Brad Boyes was taken - exactly what they were searching for when they picked Smith.  Other notables that year who were picked after Smith include Justin Williams, Niklas Kronwall, Nick Schultz, Ilya Bryzgalov, Jarret Stoll, Andreas Lilja, Antoine Vermette, Paul Martin, Lubomir Visnovsky, John Michael Liles, Matthew Lombardi and Henrik Lundqvist.  As tough as Ron Delorme may have been, he clearly took a few too many shots to the head.

Boon - When the Canucks made their infamous run to the ‘82 Final, expectations for the following seasons were high.  Some would argue unjustifiably so given the fluky nature of that run.  But when you look back at their drafting record of 1980 and 1981 and the number of quality players in the pipeline who hadn’t contributed in 1982, you can further appreciate why there was some optimism.  Those 2 draft years generated Garth Butcher, Petri Skriko, Rick Lanz, Doug Lidster and Patrick Sundstrom.  Sundstrom, the silky Swede, was selected in the 9th round of the 1980 draft and went on to score at a point per game clip for 5 full seasons in Vancouver.  Plus he was great trade bait, netting us Kirk McLean and Greg Adams, both key figures in the Canucks’ early 90’s success.  You won’t see another 9th round pick like this (mostly because the draft is only 7 rounds now). 

9:38pm
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Filed under: nhl entry draft ron delorme nathan smith patrik sundstrom 
June 15, 2010
So You Think You’re Tough - Round Two, Match One

Strap yourselves in, it’s time for Round 2.  For those just joining us and wondering what’s going on here’s the preamble:

This got us to thinking about who is the toughest Canuck of all time?  Are there any players on the current roster that might qualify for this title?  What do you mean by toughness anyway?  Well, we’re going to let you, valued reader, decide.  Though from our perspective, it’s not just the tendency to drop the gloves and pound someone.  We’re thinking about that, of course, but also thinking about the ability to effectively play through injury, delivering devastating, but clean hits and going to the hard places on the ice and paying the commensurate price.  And, of course, things like agitating the opposition and sticking up for fallen teammates.  Bottom line, we’re looking for the kind of player that is respected by his teammates and physically feared by the opposition.

We started with 16 candidates and are now down to 8.  Surprisingly, there were a number of players that didn’t make the sweet 16, but bear some mention so we’ve been unveiling those on the honourable mention list one by one (8 so far with 7 to go).  So here we go, Round 2.

Trevor Linden - More a lover than a fighter, Trevor was tough in the fairest sense possible.  Like the only other retired sweater in Canucks history (#12 Stan Smyl), Trevor never met a check he wouldn’t finish.  While not an agitator nor instigator, he would answer the bell when required.  Check out the little tilt with public enemy number one, Sean Avery, proving above all else that Trevor was the ultimate good guy.  The enduring measure of his toughness was his legendary ‘94 Cup run performance battling through cheaps shots (Mark Messier), laying out thunderous checks and nearly willing his team to win.  Trevor handily won out over Rick Rypien in Round 1.

Ron Delorme - Chief’s ‘82 playoff pummelling of Grant Mulvey is classic Canuckicana.  A much feared fighter and good teammate, Delorme has fared not nearly as well as the Canucks’ Chief Scout, but don’t let that taint your vote.  The featured clip is a swinging slugfest against hated Flame Jamie Macoun, with Delorme as the victor, of course.  Delorme narrowly edged out Garth “The Strangler” Butcher in his first match.

View and vote here:

Today’s Honourable Mention:

Scott “Wild Thing” Walker - In his his days as a Canuck, he was a little spark plug, who much like Rick Rypien today, consistently took on much bigger players.  After leaving Vancouver, he morphed into a decent scoring ”lite” power forward.   

Round Two, Match Two will follow tomorrow.

11:51am
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Filed under: vancouver canucks trevor linden ron delorme garth butcher rick rypien scott walker 
June 14, 2010
So You Think You’re Tough - Round One CLOSED

Okay, we’ve milked this for long enough - we’re on to round two.  Thanks for your participation.  A quick recap of round one:

  1. Trevor Linden defeated Rick Rypien in a mismatch.  Clearly, the voters are putting more emphasis on a balanced definition of toughness as opposed to pure pugilism.  We applaud your discriminating taste. 
  2. Stan Smyl took out the much larger Jack McIlhargey in a fairly lopsided pairing.  After this battle, we envision Jack Mac wearing that neck brace he fashioned on one of the late 70’s hockey cards of our youth.
  3. Harold Snepsts destroyed Tim Hunter in our most lopsided match.  And no, we were not stuffing the ballot box in favour of our hero Harold.  Really, an ex-Flame had no business being in this contest in the first place. 
  4. Mattias Ohlund narrowly edged out Cam Neely.  This will have some eyes rolling but Mattias presumably gets credibility for his long career here.  In fact, we will go as far to say that if Ohlund were not Swedish, he’d have been a bigger fan favourite here and just might have wound up with his number hanging from the rafters.  Flame away.
  5. Ron “Chief” Delorme took out “The Strangler”, Garth Butcher, in a close match (did we say how much we loved the old school nicknames?).  We suspect ”Chief” (now the Canucks’ Chief Amateur Scout) won’t get much further.  Especially, if we get too much further in our draft analysis before his next match.
  6. Gino Odjick barely eclipsed the original “Captain Canuck”, Orland Kurtenbach, in another close one.  We’re sure this will leave some of the 70’s natives (we mean you, kenikoop) more than a little restless.  If anything, this proves that pure pugilism can win out, particularly against a faceless victim (sorry Kurt, but you’re too old for our sketchy memories).
  7. Ed “Jovo Cop” Jovanovski dispensed with Dave “Tiger” Williams proving that you don’t need brain to overcome brawn.  Perhaps just more brawn.  Or less criminal convictions. 
  8. Curt Fraser in the tightest match-up brought down Donald Brashear.  We’re surprised by this outcome, not because Fraser wasn’t fantastically tough, but because his prime was quite sometime ago and Brash was the heavyweight champ for so many years. 

We’ll start with round 2 tomorrow.  Enjoy.

11:00am
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(Notes: 1)
  
Filed under: vancouver canucks trevor linden rick rypien stan smyl jack mcilhargey harold snepsts tim hunter mattias ohlund cam neely ron delorme garth butcher gino odjick orland kurtenbach curt fraser Donald Brashear Ed Jovanovski Tiger Williams 
June 2, 2010
So You Think You’re Tough - Round One, Match Five

Today’s contestants (including the honourable mention) were from various 80’s Canuck incarnations.  For all you readers born after that, we apologize.  Crappy teams often required an abundance of tough guys…

Garth Butcher - The first time we saw the Strangler play was for the Regina Pats against the Victoria Cougars.  To an impressionable young boy, Garth was a terrorizing force on the ice that night.  Scary looking and aptly named, Butcher was a better agitator than fighter, but wouldn’t back down from anyone.  Today’s video pits Garth aganist future tough Canuck, Tim Hunter, in a near vacant Pacific Coliseum.

Ron Delorme - The Chief’s ‘82 playoff pummelling of Grant Mulvey is classic Canuckicana.  A much feared fighter and good teammate, Delorme has fared not nearly as well as a Canuck scout, but don’t let that taint your vote.  The featured clip is a swinging slugfest against hated Flame Jamie Macoun, with Delorme as the victor, of course.

Today’s Honourable Mention:

Craig Coxe - The late 80’s were a very dark period in Canuck history (that’s saying something).  As perpetual doormats, poor Coxey had to take on every goon going.  The brave Californian learned how to skate late in life and seemingly learned to fight even later, boldly becoming the league’s punching bag.  After leaving Vancouver for the second time, remarkably, he scored the first goal in San Jose Sharks history. 

2:29pm
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Filed under: vancouver canuck ron delorme garth butcher craig coxe